Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from August 30th.
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L 2-3 vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs
CF Antoan Richardson 1-4, double, BB, K LF Chris Young 1-4, HR, RBI, BB, 2 K - 1st homer w/ SWB 2B Rob Refsnyder 1-5, 2 K RF Zoilo Almonte 1-4, BB, K DH Adonis Garcia 1-5, 2 K
CF Mark Payton 1-4, double, BB, SB DH Eric Jagielo 2-4, K, HBP 1B Mike Ford 1-5, RBI, 2 K RF Danny Oh 2-4, triple
Brady Lail 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K Ramon Benjamin 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K Alex Smith 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Cesar Vargas 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:W 4-2 vs. Augusta GreenJackets
2B Claudio Custodio 1-5, double, 2 K 3B Miguel Andujar 2-5 1B Jackson Valera 2-4, BB, 2 K RF Daniel Lopez 2-4, double
Giovanny Gallegos 4 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K Jonathan Padilla 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K Eric Ruth 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees: L 3-5 vs. Vermont Lake Monsters
2B Billy Fleming 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 K 1B Connor Spencer 2-5, K DH Luis Torrens 1-5, K C Isaias Tejeda 2-3, double, K, HBP SS Vince Conde 1-3, 2 BB, E6 - fielding error, 7th of the season
David Palladino 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R/2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 2 WP Matt Wotherspoon 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K Andury Acevedo 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
GCL Yankees 1:L 2-6 vs. GCL Red Sox (Game 1 of Finals)
2B Bryan Cuevas 2-4, RBI, K, E4 - throwing error, first of the season SS Thairo Estrada 1-5, 3 K 3B Drew Bridges 2-4, K CF Leonardo Molina 0-4
Austin DeCarr 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R/2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, WP Gean Batista 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, K Christopher Cabrera 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, hit batsman
Brandon McCarthy will take the mound for the Yankees in today's rubber game with the Blue Jays. Again, I don't think the importance of scoring runs and winning can be stressed enough.
Comment of the Game
Yesterday's COTG winner was carp68. The Royals signed Jayson Nix and then Nix found himself in a bases loaded situation last night. Then Nix did what Nix does...Nix.
Best GIF of the Recap
Elcruzter55 is yesterday's BROTG winner. It showcases the dangers of bunting. Take a good look, Yankees. Take a good look.
Honorable Mod Mention
Weekends are always the hardest for the mods to be honorable. It's just non-stop debauchery!
Best Comments of the Day
There weren't a lot of comments. Again, it's the weekend. Non-stop debauchery!
Please don't be long. Please don't you be very long. As always, link us your Song of the Day!
Brandon McCarthy will take the mound against J.A. Happ in the final game of this three game series against the Blue Jays. After yesterday's debacle, asking the Yankees to score runs might be setting the bar a bit too high. Let's simply start with getting two hits, and we'll go from there!
Despite the Yankees' recent hot streak, their playoff hopes are looking bleak.
When the Yankees won their fifth straight game this past Monday, even some of the brightest baseball writers around were convinced that the team was poised to make a serious playoff push. For some reason, people forgot that this was the same team that had lost five in a row just a week before that win streak started. Since then, with the exception of two freak innings against David Price and their old punching bag Mark Buehrle, the Yankees are back to being a team that struggles to score runs and win games.
The reality of the situation is that their playoff hopes are fading faster than Ben Kenobi in A New Hope. Nothing illustrates this better than a look at a collection of playoff odds from around the world wide web. Each of the odds given below are calculated using a methodology that simulates the rest of the season, in some cases up to over a billion times, to arrive at a best guess. The results vary, but none of them paint a particularly rosy picture. (All odds given were posted on their respective sites on 8/31/14)
Sports Club Stats - Yankees playoff chance: 3.9%
This method assigns weighted scores to each remaining game on the schedule by taking home field advantage and the opponent's record into account. They say the Yankees have a 0.6% chance of winning the division and a 3.0% of getting a wildcard spot. Those numbers don't add up to the total above because in the overall percentage they also add a small percentage of simulations that have a team either winning or losing all of their remaining games. This site also has some neat graphs tracking each team's playoff odds over time.
Fangraphs' Season to Date Stats Mode - Yankees playoff chance: 5.9%
Fangraphs provides three different versions of playoff odds and this one is the most harsh on the Yankees. Here they simulate the rest of the season using pythagorean expectation (runs scored vs. runs allowed to date) as a predictor. As most of us are aware, the Yankees have surrendered more runs than they've scored, so this version gives the Yankees only a 1.4% shot at the division and a 4.5% chance at a wildcard berth.
These simulations use modified PECOTA estimates to determine outcomes for the rest of the season. The odds here are broken out into a 1.6% chance of taking home the AL East crown and a 7.0% chance of sneaking in through the wildcard. That might not seem like much, but it's probably enough to get Suzyn Waldman really excited.
This is the most in-depth of Fangraphs' three methods. It uses a combination of Steamer and ZiPS projections as well as Fangraphs Depth Charts to calculate expected winning percentages for the rest of the season. This method is more bullish on the Yankee bats going forward than they probably should be, but still gives them just a 3.3% chance at topping the division and a 6.8% shot at a wildcard spot.
Of all the methods laid out here, this one makes the least sense. It simply gives every team a 50/50 chance at winning each game for the rest of the season. While not probable, it still gives us a possible outcome. With the even money line, the Yankees have their best shot in this scenario. The coin says that the Yankees have a 3.4% chance at winning the division and a 12.1% chance at the wildcard.
The best case scenario here has the Yankees heading home early about 85% of the time, but will they succumb to their apparent fate, or go all Han Solo and keep playing baseball in October? Let us know in the comments.
The Blue Jays took the series over the Yankees thanks to a late run-scoring outburst spearheaded by three home runs.
This game could not have been going any better early on. The Yankees picked up three early runs and Brandon McCarthy appeared to be cruising again. But a barrage of home runs for the Blue Jays got them right back in it. And when they took the lead, the Yankees could never get it back and fell to Toronto 4-3.
The Yankees got more production in the first batter of the game than they did in all of yesterday's. Brett Gardner led off the game with a home run to get the Yankees out to a quick 1-0 lead.
A couple innings later, the Yankees added to their lead. Martin Prado led off the fourth inning with a single. Three batters later, he moved to third when Chase Headley singled. Francisco Cervelli then added another single, scoring a run and making it 2-0.
And then an inning later, the Yankees picked up more. With one out, Gardner drove one into the gap in left-center field. Gardner easily made it into third with a triple. Then, the Blue Jays' throw to third got away and went into the dugout, allowing Gardner to score and make it 3-0.
McCarthy looked pretty fantastic for most of the first six innings, but the Blue Jays eventually started to get to him in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs in the inning, Melky Cabrera hit a solo home run to cut the Yankee lead to two runs. That brought Jose Bautista up to the plate. He too would hit a massive home run off McCarthy. And just like that, the score was 3-2.
McCarthy came back out to start the seventh inning, but the Blue Jays started where they left off in the sixth. Edwin Encarnacion led off the seventh with another home run and the game was tied. McCarthy then walked Dioner Navarro, which would be it for him. McCarthy's day was going rather well for a while, but it didn't end well. He went six innings, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks. Dellin Betances came in for him. Betances struck the first two hitters out, but Munenori Kawaski punched a single to score pinch-runner Steve Tolleson, who had stolen second earlier in the at bat. Betances came back and struck out Jose Reyes, but the Blue Jays now led 4-3.
In the top of the eighth, the Yankees got two runners on, but they couldn't bring any home. Dellin remained in the game to pitch the bottom of the eighth. He allowed a single to Adam Lind, but it was a scoreless inning from Betances.
The bottom of the Yankees lineup was due up in the top of the ninth. After Stephen Drew popped one up for the first out, Jacoby Ellsbury was sent up as a pinch hitter. Ellsbury managed to drop one into no-man's land in shallow left field and make it to second with a double. Gardner, who was a single away from the cycle, came up next but he could only ground out moving a pinch-running Ichiro Suzuki to third. That left the game up to Derek Jeter. Jeter could only hit a soft liner to second to end the game. It started off promising, but the Yankees dropped their second in a row and the Blue Jays got a 4-3 win.
The Yankees have the day off tomorrow before heading to Boston to take on the Red Sox in a series starting Tuesday.
The right-hander is likely to head to the majors for the Yankees.
The Yankees have acquired right-hander Chaz Roe from the Marlins, according to a major league source. Miami will receive cash considerations in the deal.
Roe, who has spent the season with the Marlins' Triple-A club, is likely to join the Yankees' major league club once rosters expand tomorrow. He has posted a 3-3 record and 3.66 ERA in 64 relief innings with Triple-A New Orleans, with his 10.1 K/9 and 3.43 SO/BB ratios likely making him attractive to the Yankees.
The addition of Roe seems to be the right-handed version of the Yankees' acquisition of lefty Josh Outman, who was acquired from the Indians late last week after spending a few months with Triple-A Columbus.
Roe made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks last season, posting a 4.03 ERA in 22.1 relief innings. The 27-year old was a first round pick in the 2005 draft and has spent time in the Rockies, Mariners, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Marlins' organizations.
The good news is that we have started hitting home runs again. We had homers from Melky Cabrera, Jose Bautista (for the 5th game in a row) and Edwin Encarnacion (very happy to see him hit one). It is nice to see some power again, after a month of almost no power.
The go ahead run wasn't a home run. In the 7th inning, after Edwin homered to tie the game, Dioner Navarro took a base on balls. Gibby, bless him, put Tolleson in to pinch run for him. I kind of questioned the move at the time. After strikeouts to Colby Rasmus and Danny Valencia, Tolleson stole second (great time for a steal) scored on a soft single by Munenori Kawasaki. Tolleson made a great slide and was just barely safe.
J.A. Happ wasn't great, he was hit hard and often, but he didn't walk anyone and only allowed 3 runs in 7 innings. He gave up 9 hits (6 of them extra bases), but no walks and had 6 strikeouts. I thought there was some luck involved, he had a few hard hit flies caught, but lets give him credit for a pretty good start.
Brett Cecil threw a scoreless inning of relief, giving up a hit and a walk but getting 2 strikeouts.
Casey Janssen picked up just his 2nd save of the month. He gave up a bloop double, to Jacoby Ellsbury, that fell between Bautista. Encarnacion and Tolleson along the right field line.
Jays of the Day are Cecil (.124 WPA), Janssen (.169), Edwin (.173) and I'm giving one to Munenori Kawasaki for the game winning hit, even though his WPA was only .089.
Suckage goes to Colby Rasmus (-.109, on an 0 for 3, 3 strikeouts). He looked just awful at the plate.
It was (you might not have heard) Derek Jeter's last game in Toronto. He went 1 for 5 (-.159 WPA) and made the last out of the game, a soft pop to second. He was good and all but I've heard enough about him, over the last 3 days, to do me for the rest of my life.
We had a nice gamethread for a Sunday afternoon, 578 comments. Alan F led us to victory again. Good job sir.
The Miami Marlins traded minor league reliever Chaz Roe to the New York Yankees in exchange for cash considerations on Sunday afternoon. Roe spent his Marlins stint with Triple-A New Orleans.
Miami wasn't expected to make any trades that would affect the major league roster on Sunday, but in a minor move, the Marlins traded minor league reliever Chaz Roe to the New York Yankees in exchange for cash considerations.
#Marlins trade RHP Chaz Roe to #Yankees in exchange for cash considerations.
Roe, who has spent the season with the Marlins' Triple-A club, is likely to join the Yankees' major league club once rosters expand tomorrow. He has posted a 3-3 record and 3.66 ERA in 64 relief innings with Triple-A New Orleans, with his 10.1 K/9 and 3.43 SO/BB ratios likely making him attractive to the Yankees.
When the Marlins signed Roe, it appeared he may have had an opportunity to make the major league club at some point, either following Spring Training or when rosters were eligible to expand. Miami's bullpen has been consistent, with Bryan Morris, Mike Dunn, and A.J. Ramos all pitching well to get the ball to Steve Cishek late in games.
Roe's first major league stint came with the Diamondbacks last season, when he posted a 4.03 ERA in 22 and a third innings pitched. He is a converted starter, who has had trouble with command at times. Losing Roe shouldn't take away from Miami's minor league pitching depth.
Miami will likely look to add a reliever when rosters are eligible to expand on Monday. Stay tuned to Fish Stripes for the latest.
We might not see The Strikeout Factory in the majors this season after all
The season is winding down and the Yankees' playoff chances are decreasing by the day, but at least we've still had tomorrow's roster expansion to look forward to, right? Maybe not so much anymore. A lot of Yankee fans have been anticipating Jacob Lindgren's promotion to the majors pretty much since he was drafted. Now it sounds like it might not happen this season, despite the roster expanding.
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees picked up lefty reliever Josh Outman partially because they didn't want to have to promote Lindgren. There are two main concerns: the number of innings that he's already pitched, and them not wanting to remove someone from the 40-man roster. The 21-year-old has already thrown 80 innings this season between his time at Mississippi State, and the 25 that he's pitched in the farm system. The most innings that he's ever pitched previously was just 56 in 2013. Additionally, Lindgren does not need to be on the 40-man roster to be protected over the offseason, so the Yankees might want to just wait instead of making room for him. I guess if they are really concerned about Lindgren being overworked, then keeping Outman makes sense. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a major loss to remove Outman from the roster and replace him with Lindgren. It's not like Lindgren would need to pitch every game for the remainder of the season. If the Yankees are going to go down without putting up much of a fight, it seems like they should at least give a chance to some of the prospects who have been playing really well.
Lindgren has been fantastic this season, although he did finally have a rough outing yesterday (4 ER, 3 BB, 1 IBB through 0.1 IP). Even after that, he still has a 2.16 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 17.3 K/9, and 48 K's through just 25 IP. He hasn't allowed a single home run, either. While it's understandable that they do not want to overwork him considering that he's already passed his career-high in innings pitched, Lindgren not being promoted would be one less thing to look forward to for the remainder of the season. I can't help but wonder if this would have been a different story if Masahiro Tanaka hadn't had his setback, and if the playoffs weren't looking further and further out of reach.
Will you be disappointed if Lindgren isn't promoted this season or do you think that there isn't much of a point in promoting him if the team is out of playoff contention?
The Japanese phenom was flown back to New York, but no one should be declaring him due for a trip under the knife just yet.
Masahiro Tanaka was temporarily shut down Friday and was flown back to New York after experiencing some soreness in his arm. Tanaka is the future of the Yankees franchise, so it is understandable for people to get nervous anytime they hear the words "sore" and "arm" in reference to a player that is rehabbing from a partially torn UCL. Regardless, it is still too early to start hitting the panic button and declaring him destined to go under the knife.
One thing everyone needs to consider is that Tanaka has been adamant that the sensation is just general soreness from pitching and not at all like the elbow pain which had first alerted the organization to the partial tear in his ulnar collateral ligament. Now it is common knowledge to never truly believe a player when he says everything is fine; these are insanely competitive individuals, and no player ever wants to be seen as mentally or physically weak and be known as "quitting" on their team. (Well no player except those named Carl Pavano). We also need to consider that Tanaka has been incredibly honest in his personal assessments of what he has been feeling. From his short time in pinstripes, it is blatantly obvious how badly Masahiro Tanaka wants to be on the mound. Yet in spite of his personal thoughts of this being an insignificant issue, he still made sure to inform the team.
The forty-nine pitch simulated game at the Tigers' Comerica Park also marked the first time Tanaka has thrown that many pitches at an effort level comparable to an actual game. Anyone who has ever engaged in any form of strenuous exercise or has ever rehabbed from an injury knows that the body is going to undergo periods of soreness and fatigue as it rounds back into form. This is especially true when an individual has only recently begun increasing the intensity of their training workload, as Tanaka has done.
During the series opener with the Blue Jays on Friday, Michael Kay spoke on air that the trip back to New York was initially scheduled to occur on Saturday. The Yankees merely decided to send the ace back a day earlier. Kay continued on, mentioning how Tanaka had voiced his belief that the Blue Jays visitors’ facility was inadequate and he preferred to be back in New York in order to continue strengthening his arm.
Understandably, the Yankees are going to be cautious with Masahiro Tanaka, which is why they are going to push back his next simulated game by a few days. Even when factoring in his importance, the organization's official stance is that the issue is minor and the phenom will not need to see Dr. Ahmed. Until news breaks that the soreness is lingering or is concentrating around his elbow, everyone should just take a couple of deep breaths and relax.
The Angels Annihilated the A's to close out August. September opens to the sweet sound of sweep. 5 games up with 26 remaining, and another flag to be flown is almost within range.
While you were away...
The Angels marched to the forefront of Major League Baseball, triumphantly. With a pitching staff as broken and beaten and hobbled as anything imagined by Archibald Willard, they nevertheless left their boot prints all over the demoralized refuse of the Oakland A's, rendering them into a green and gold slimy slick oozing across the pavement and heading towards the gutter drain of 2014, their fans clinging to the sticky surface of hope as they, too, hurtle towards oblivion.
But when is it ever the best time to gloat? Now, when the tides might surely turn against us as hard as they turned in our favor? Or not until the very end, when the savory sensation of that critical moment has then gone cold and dry, becoming memories of lesser importance than the next exciting challenge that confronts us?
But about those losers. Let's reel in the entire enchilada, shall we?
We start off with last Thursday, clinging to a single game lead over our Division rivals. Both starting pitchers (C.J. Wilson for our side) held the opposition to 3 runs, and both bullpens locked away home plate from their opponents, until the 10th inning, when a Howie Kendrick sac fly to right brought in Erick Aybar with the walk-off run as the Halos won 4-3 to double up their lead in the standings to 2 full games. With 3 games left in the head-to-head series, the worst that could happen would be for the Angels to be a single game behind when dawn broke on Labor Day.
Friday came, and Jered Weaver took the mound to face off against Jon Lester. For Weave, it was 7 innings pitched, 3 hits and 3 walks against 3 strikeouts, but zero runs granted and the Angels won 4-0, thrusting a dagger into the very heart of the blockbuster Yeonis Cespedes trade for Jon Lester. Now the lead was 3 games in the Division, and the best that Oakland could pray for would be to escape Anaheim still within reach of 1 full game.
Note, however, that with the 9 inning shut out on Friday, added to the failure to score in the last 4 frames on Thursday, the A's had gone 13 straight innings without a single run.
Saturday. The day that should have seen Garett Richards pitching for LAA, instead saw a parade of bullpen arms - 8 total, actually - combine to shut out the A;s for the second straight night, and holding them to 3 measly hits overall. The Angels scored 2 in the 4th off the OTHER Big Kahuna of the Oakland staff, Jeff Samardzija with Eric Aybar being the catalyst, and that was all that was necessary and the Angels won one of the most extraordinary pitching duels so far this century, 2 - 0. And with the second straight shut out, the A's have been held from scoring in 22 consecutive innings. Better, the Angels were now 4 games up in the AL West and assured of at least tripling the advantage in the standings that they brought into the series.
We conclude the bloodbath on Sunday. The Angels jumped out on Scott Kazmir with 6 runs in the 2nd inning, running Kaz from the field after only 3 outs recorded in the game, total. Kazmir managed to get enough fervor stirred up over his failure to con the plate umpire into not making accurate calls on balls versus strikes, that he got his own manager ejected. But the Halos were now in a laugher, one that would end in an 8-1 thrashing and seal the LAA lead in the AL West at 5 full games. Matt Shoemaker was phenomenal once again, with 7 strikeouts and 0 runs allowed over 7 full innings of work, which was important after the extensive bullpen use the night before.
Oakland did finally put up a run on the board, in the top of the 8th. So tack on 7 more innings to that scoreless streak and it had reached 29 straight. In fact, after all 4 games and 37 total innings played, Oakland managed to cross the plate in only 3 of their frames.
Brilliant, brilliant pitching throughout the entire series. But, hey Oakland, there is always that run differential!!
Elsewhere in the Heavens of Anaheim:That Angels have awakened the baseball world. "Dominate"......"caught fire."....."spectacular"......"Matt Shoemaker has been brilliant"..."You just can't say enough about this team right now".............Albert Pujols must be feeling better with all that Plantar Faciitis stuff of recent memory. He may not be hitting like the Pujols of yesteryear, but he still fields like it...........Don't you believe it, folks. This race in the AL West is NOT over..........Grant Green has been activated, and Saturday's starter Cory Rasmus was sent down to make room. Rasmus will be back up after rosters get expanded on Tuesday. This happened Sunday afternoon, so doesn't this mean that Rasmus is now ineligible for post-season play? Isn't the rule that he had to be on the 25-man as of midnight on August 31?..........Mike Trout's extended slump is throwing away a lot of hard-earned media goodwill...........
Our patch is HERE. All cotton, embroidered, iron-on. And they are free with a SASE. Just email your request to me and join your fellow HH'ers in the campaign. I am starting to see more and more photos from you with your patch attached! Keep up the good work!!
DH Mark Payton 1-4, double SS Cito Culver 2-4, double, HR, RBI, K - 5th homer of the season 3B Mike Ford 1-3, double, 2 RBI, K RF Aaron Judge 2-3, RBI - batting .283 w/ Tampa 2B Jose Rosario 2-4
Caleb Smith 3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, K, pickoff, 2 hit batsmen Philip Walby 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, WP Kyle Haynes 3 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:W 5-0 vs. Augusta GreenJackets
LF Michael O'Neill 2-4, RBI, 2 K, HBP, SB - 42nd steal of the season DH Miguel Andujar 2-4, RBI, BB, K C Jackson Valera 1-4, RBI 3B Kale Sumner 1-4, 2 RBI, 2 K 1B Bubba Jones 1-3, double, BB, 2 K
Justin Kamplain 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, WP, hit batsman Angel Rincon 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, K, WP
Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:L 3-11 vs. Brooklyn Cyclones
2B Billy Fleming 2-5, E4 - fielding error, 4th of the season 1B Connor Spencer 1-4 C Isaias Tejeda 2-4, HR, 2 RBI - 5th homer of the season RF Collin Slaybaugh 2-4, double, RBI SS Jose Javier 1-3, BB, K, E6 - fielding error, 12th of the season
Andrew Chin 2.1 IP, 5 H, 8 R/6 ER, 2 BB, K Jordan Cote 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K Sam Agnew-Wieland 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
SS Jorge Mateo 3-3, RBI, BB, 2 SB DH Thairo Estrada 1-5, HR, 4 RBI, 2 K - 2nd homer of the playoffs RF Alexander Palma 2-4, double, K C Alvaro Noriega 1-3, BB, pickoff LF Cesar Diaz 1-3, BB, SB
Luis Cedeno 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R/0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, hit batsman Deshorn Lake 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, K, WP, hit batsman Travis Hissong 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
The Yankees have an off-day today. Perhaps they're using it to plan for the last month of the regular season. We here at Pinstripe Alley would like to make the humble suggestion that winning is the best course of action.
Comment of the Game
Yesterday's COTG winner was a hard choice. Rorschach made some classic jokes, as well as started a whole thing about blowtorches (AKA what should be done to this season). However, bluecheese999's comment about the Seinfeld scene with Paul O'Neill compared with Brett Gardner's day was the most recorded comment, and thus wins. Sure this just happens to coincide with both my Twitter handle and my favorite player, but that's definitely not why this won. /accepts $100 bill in secret
Best GIF of the Recap
Elcruzter55 has won the BROTG two days in a row. If there was a game today, he might be able to go for a winning streak.
Honorable Mod Mention
Not even a question which mod was the most honorable yesterday.
Best Comments of the Day
Once again, not too many comments in the majority of the threads. It's the weekend.
Fun Questions
What will the Yankees record be at the end of September?
Which September call up are you looking forward to the most?
It's the last month of the regular season. Will things ever be the same? As always, link us your Song of the Day!
There's no game today, as the Yankees await the Red Sox to visit the Bronx tomorrow. Perhaps they will reflect on this season thus far and plan accordingly for 2015. Or perhaps they're playing Scrabble. Either way, this is potentially the last month that we will get to see Derek Jeter play baseball. It's the end of an era. It's the final countdown.
Feel free to use this as your Open Thread for the day.
Yankees pick up another pitcher before the waiver deadline.
The Yankees acquired one last pitcher before yesterday's waiver deadline, right-hander Chaz Roe. He spent the season with the Marlins, who will receive cash considerations for the deal.
Since being drafted in 2005, Roe has only broken into the majors once, last season with the Diamondbacks. During that brief stint, he he posted a 4.03 ERA, 3.68 xFIP and 9.67 K/9 through 22.1 IP. He spent all of this season with the Marlin's Triple-A team, where he's had a good season. Through 64 IP, Roe has a 1.16 WHIP, 3.66 ERA, 10.13 K/9, 2.95 BB/9 and 0.70 HR/9.
It's likely that Roe will make it to the majors, though that would require the Yankees to actually remove someone from the 40-man roster to make room for him. The team could stand to lose quite a few pitchers (Matt Daley, Preston Claiborne, I'm looking at you). If Roe can carry over this season's success, then he should be better than, or at least the same as, both Daley and Claiborne. Daley had a 5.02 ERA and 6.82 FIP through 14.1 IP during his time in the majors this season, while Claiborne had a 3.57 ERA, 4.70 xFIP and 1.53 WHIP over 17.2 innings. By the way, both Daley and Claiborne have the added disadvantage of being currently injured, thus wasting their roster spots entirely.
The Yankees recently expressed concern over the idea of promoting Jacob Lindgren and having to remove someone from the 40, so it makes sense that they would just acquire another pitcher instead of letting any of the prospects take the spot that Roe is likely to take. Why give prospects a chance when you can just add random, expendable players to the roster instead, right?
The Yankees scored eight runs in one inning for the first time this year! I'm going to pretend like that's where the week ended because I don't want to be sad!
Record: 3-4 (1-0 against the Royals, 1-2 against the Tigers, 1-2 against the Blue Jays)
Sigh. What began as a promising week ended with the Yankees losing two straight series, including one to Toronto that saw New York play some pretty woeful baseball. While the Yankees began the week with some offensive fireworks (winning 8-1 in Kansas City and 8-4 in Detroit), their bats decided that would be plenty and took the rest of the week off. A 3-2 loss in Detroit on a walk-off single by Alex Avila and a 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays (that saw the Yankees muster one hit - ONE HIT! - all game long) proved particularly depressing, and are the very games a team fighting for a playoff spot desperately needs to win. They're not out of it yet, but this week did not see the Yankees do themselves any favors.
Quick hits:
Terrible Tex: He may have been the Player of the Week just fourteen days ago, but that week marks just about the only stretch over the past two months where Mark Teixeira wasn't awful at the plate. While Tex produced decently for the first three months of the season, he's been an absolute black hole in the lineup since then, hitting just .203/.302/.345 with an 82 wRC+ since July 1 - this week he continued to struggle, notching just two hits in 24 at bats. While none of the other middle of the order "sluggers" are raking right now, at least Carlos Beltran (114 wRC+ in August) and Brian McCann (102 wRC+) have both been better of late. Hey Tex, September would be a great month to remember how to hit...just saying.
Celebrating an offensive bright spot: Because this season has seen such a dearth of offense from Yankees, we've got to take note when they actually remember how to hit the ball. Thus, we must celebrate Wednesday's game against the Tigers, as the Yankees had their best offensive inning of the season! The Yankees scored eight runs in the frame on nine straight hits, and they did it all off of David Price to boot. I just had to make note of this amazing inning because it's a welcome surprise when the bats actually do come alive. Wow, baseball can still be fun!
Ichiro's bat comes around: While he doesn't play everyday (which has probably contributed to his recent resurgence), Ichiro has found some success this month at the plate. The Yankees fourth outfielder was five-of-sixteen this week, and he's hit .352/.357/.389 with a 107 wRC+ in August over 54 at bats. He's not going to carry the Yankees to the playoffs, but, after an up and down season that has seen the legend take on a new and reduced role, it's worth noting he's been quite solid lately, in addition to providing sterling defense.
Before he tweaked his ankle during Friday's game in Toronto, the Yankee centerfielder found himself in the midst of a phenomenal week of baseball. Ellsbury hit .522 this week with a double, a triple, and four home runs. He's certainly getting hot at the right time, and while he started off slowly in August, he ended the month on a tear, finishing with a 141 wRC+. Let's hope the ankle injury isn't too serious, and Ellsbury can get back to beating the covers off of baseballs.
Pitcher of the week: Michael Pineda
Pineda has returned to the rotation with a vengeance, posting a 2.31 ERA and a 3.08 FIP in his four starts since getting off of the DL at the beginning of August. This week, Pineda beat the Royals on Monday, giving up one run while striking out five and working into the seventh inning. Saturday, he wasn't able to get the win, but he still only gave up two runs over six innings of work (a two-run blast in the first to Jose Bautista being his lone mistake). Even though it's disappointing to see Pineda's fine work go to waste because of an inept offense, his performance this year has to get everyone excited. If he can stay healthy, Pineda looks to be a terrific major league starter, and in the coming years, a rotation headed by him and Masahiro Tanaka looks to be quite fearsome.
Derek Jeter is often portrayed as the perfect team player, but the inevitably poor production of his age-40 season is putting the Yankees in a bind from which only he can free them.
The reason so many people get annoyed with Derek Jeter, or more specifically, what we talk about when we talk about Derek Jeter, is an issue of completeness.
There's the undisputed material: No one seriously disputes that Derek Jeter is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. No one can take away his 734 plate appearances in the postseason, complete with a .308/.374/.465 line that is slightly better than his career regular-season production. Jeter's managed to play for two decades in New York, and hardly done anything but bring positive headlines to his team, help the Yankees make the playoffs in, should they fall short this year, 85 percent of the seasons he collected at least one at-bat.
He inspires writing like this by Roger Angell: "It's sobering to think that in just a few weeks Derek Jeter won't be doing any of this anymore, and will be reduced to picturing himself in action, just the way the rest of us do... He's been so good at baseball that he'll probably be really good at this part of it too." He's given us many iconic moments -- he's flipped baseballs, smashed his face into chairs. This seems like so much. It seems like it should be enough, the reality of Derek Jeter.
Somehow, it isn't.
There are people who will insist, to their dying days, that Derek Jeter is an excellent defensive shortstop. He's not, as far as we can measure such things. He isn't so horrific that it comes close to invalidating all the things I just mentioned. He's been playing the most demanding defensive position on the field. A bad shortstop may still be a more agile athlete than the best left fielder. Still, despite his obvious shortcomings compared to the average glove at his position, Derek Jeter won five Gold Gloves. He was awarded the award for best defense at the shortstop position five times. That's as many Gold Gloves as Dave Concepcion, more than Roy McMillan. Just to their left, Ken Boyer won five. Adrian Beltre has only won four!
Mariano Rivera holds dirt from the Yankee Stadium pitcher's mound after his final appearance. (Mike Stobe).
So yes, it irritates the rest of us, that Derek Jeter can't simply be extolled for all the things he is, but also has to be celebrated for all the things he pretty clearly isn't.
I can't speak for everyone in the group of Jeter agnostics, but the hesitance to give over to full-scale worship isn't an anti-Yankees thing. I couldn't get enough of the Mariano Rivera retirement tour last year. I loved covering the unofficial Mariano Rivera All-Star game at Citi Field. And I was particularly taken by Rivera's ability, down the stretch, to not only pitch as well as he ever had for a Yankees team that desperately needed him, but to resume his old multi-inning/as-often-as-needed role for Joe Girardi. It's the kind of production we generally don't see from stars near the end.
We're sure not seeing it from Derek Jeter. He entered Tuesday's action hitting .261/.308/.312, good for an OPS+ of 77. His defense is, by most metrics, is well below average. None of this is surprising. None of it is to Jeter's detriment. He's 40 years old! The number of shortstops who have logged 100 games at shortstop in an age-40 season or later? Five: Jeter, Honus Wagner, Luke Appling, Barry Larkin, and Omar Vizquel.
"The Yankees were either willing to gamble on an unlikely rebound or they figured they would make enough money on a farewell tour that they didn't care how a one-legged double-play machine (on offense, not defense) would affect their chances."
We've seen various attempts to diagnose why he isn't hitting -- Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling were musing on the radio that the farewell tour itself is the problem -- as if poor production by a 40-year-old shortstop who broke his ankle is some otherwise unsolvable mystery.
What we haven't seen, not for a moment, is anyone questioning the basic truth about Derek Jeter that we're supposed to accept just as readily as his defensive prowess: that Derek Jeter is a selfless leader who will do whatever it takes to win.
The problem with that one should be pretty obvious, especially given an August when Jeter's bat apparently headed into retirement a little ahead of the rest of him: He hit just .207/.226/.261 in 116 plate appearances, almost all of them compiled in the second spot in the batting order (there was one exception -- he batted leadoff). This gave the Yankees more of Jeter at a moment when they could have used a lot less of him and provoked the media, quite reasonably, to question Joe Girardi's lineup construction: one player's historic contribution to the team and/or ego was seemingly being put ahead of team goals.
Derek Jeter and Joe Girardi(Dilip Vishwanat).
That put Girardi in a bind given Jeter's stature. If Jeter were the total team player he's portrayed as being, he'd not only have communicated to his manager that he'd be perfectly comfortable hitting anywhere in the lineup and playing only as often as he'd help the Yankees, he'd tell all of us, too. Short of doing this - of giving Girardi not only private permission, but public cover, it's probably, as Goldman points out, just not worth the hassle, particularly with only a month left in the season.
The cost to the Yankees has been substantial. Jeter is the third-best defensive shortstop on his own team this year, behind Stephen Drew and Brendan Ryan. He's garnered the third-most plate appearances on the team, yet among the 14 Yankees with at least 100 plate appearances, he's 13th in OPS+, behind only the since-jettisoned Alfonso Soriano.
Derek Jeter is no dummy. He knows who is helping the Yankees win and who isn't. Is it asking more of him than he's being paid for to make such a public declaration? Certainly. And the failure to do so doesn't alter the view of Jeter as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, with an ego, understandably struggling to play a position well that few his age have attempted at all. You could argue such a public admission of decline would take more courage than planting your face into a seat along the third base line. But all we seem to be learning about Derek Jeter in 2014 is that he's willing to make any sacrifice to win, provided he remains in a position of prominence while doing so.
Jeter says this is his last year. He's playing for a team that entered September a few games out of the second wild card. If selfless Derek Jeter's focus is really on getting the Yankees to one more October, and not, say, wearing cleats that glorify himself through stats and the moniker "King of NY" we'll hear him publicly declare something humble and unassuming like this:
"I decided last Sunday night on this move. I haven't been a bit of good to the team since the season started. It would not be fair to the boys, to Joe, or to the baseball public for me to try going on. In fact, it would not be fair to myself and I'm the last consideration."
That, of course, was not Jeter's speech, but the man who Jeter passed for most hits by a Yankee, Lou Gehrig. He asked out of the lineup when he didn't think he could help his team anymore. And he had more than pride at stake: he had a little consecutive games played streak you might have heard about, too.
Nor was Gehrig the only Jeter-level star to do this. As Goldman pointed out, DiMaggio retired rather than let his skills deteriorate to Jeter's current point. Mike Schmidt retired in-season when he saw he couldn't do it anymore. (Schmidt also played some first base late in his career.) Willie Mays, too, who was every bit the defender in center field some pretend Jeter was at shortstop, played some first base late in his career with the Giants and Mets. If you can't imagine Jeter at any position other than shortstop, go ask someone who saw Mays play in his prime sometime how weird it was to see him with a first baseman's mitt. But he did it.
Lou Gehrig watches the Yankees on the day he asked out of the lineup (Getty Images).
The "selfless" tag somehow didn't get permanently attached to Willie Mays, or Mike Schmidt, or Joe DiMaggio. It did to Gehrig, but he had to die of his own disease to get it.
Again, that Jeter isn't doing this doesn't mean he should have to wait to enter the Hall of Fame, though I wouldn't favor waiving the five-year waiting period, as the Hall did for the dying Gehrig. It doesn't take away from his decades of regular season and playoff excellence. It doesn't invalidate the understandably emotional Yankees fans who are eager to see him one final time this season, nor does it limit the amount of money the Yankees are raking in from the attendance bump that's resulted.
But as we watch this flawed Yankees team try to make it to one final October, it's telling that a man who has inspired such myth to go along with his incredible, actual achievements - the "selfless Derek Jeter" google search turns up around 1,010,000 hits - is holding on just as tight as the sentimental fans.
He'll play another month, and then he'll be gone, and at no point did he change positions (even when the Yankees acquired a superior defender in Alex Rodriguez), at no point did he allow himself to be dropped in the lineup, at no point did he give way for players who will never have his ultimate body of work, but can make the Yankees better right now than he can at 40.
He was Derek Jeter. And he deserved every accolade he earned. And none that he didn't.
Before the minor league season came to a close, I got to visit the Trenton Thunder and watch the Yankees' best prospect pitch. Check out some pictures and videos from the trip.
Growing up in New Jersey, I was fortunate to have several minor league teams playing around me. However, I somehow never got around to seeing the Trenton Thunder in the state's capital, even when the Yankees began their affiliation with the Thunder in 2003. Checking out Arm & Hammer Park and some of the Yankees' top prospects was long overdue, so during Labor Day Weekend, I finally got around to visiting the ballpark.
It was Friday, August 29th, and the Thunder played one of their final games of the season, facing off against the Phillies' Double-A team, the Reading Fighting Phils. (Nifty name, bros.) Luckily enough, I was able to go to a game started by top Yankees pitching prospect Luis Severino, who has been absolutely sensational this year, soaring from Low-A Charleston up to Double-A while pitching to a 2.46 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 26 starts. Huzzah.
Arm & Hammer Park is right next to the Delaware River, and I had hopes that perhaps someone could muscle it out of the park and into the next state. Unfortunately, the night was a bit windy and no one came particularly close to even hitting a regular home run. The wind that picks up from the river is notorious for helping make Arm & Hammer Park a big pitchers' park with consistently good offense being notorious to find among the Thunder hitters and visitors. Alas. Nonetheless, it was still a pretty park:
My seats were not in the front section since I did not order in time to find seats together for my sister, her husband, and me, but in a minor league park, it is not difficult to find cheap seats with an excellent view. Minor league baseball is truly magical to behold, especially in this age of high ticket prices at major league parks the closer you get to the field.
Anyway, I did not want to just make a post recounting a normal trip to the ballpark and talk about the food I ate since that's not very interesting to most readers. (Although Greg was disappointed that I did not try a Thunder Dog.) I brought my camera along to take photos and videos of the prospects. I was a bit disappointed in that regard because catching prospect Gary Sanchez did not play, and neither did Tyler Austin or Dante Bichette, Jr. There was a chance that Jacob Lindgren, the lefty reliever "Strikeout Factory" who was the Yankees' top pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, would pitch, but he did not come out of the bullpen on this night. Of course, Severino was pitching and PSA favorite Greg Bird was there as well, so I still left a happy camper. As an added bonus, the starter for Reading was righty Aaron Nola, the seventh overall pick of this year's draft and the top pitching prospect in the Phillies' organization. It's not every day two organizations' top pitching prospects face off, so that was a thrill. (This post is going to focus on the Yankees' prospects, but check out Nola's pitching motion on video. There's a reason the Thunder got shut out beyond the weather. The former LSU righty is gonna be good.)
One of the first things I noticed about Luis Severino is that the man does not take long in between pitches at all. Part of it might have been a product of minor league baseball hitters generally taking less time between pitches than major leaguers as well, but the 20-year-old righty could have an opposite-handed Mark Buehrle out there with his efficacy:
That trend was common throughout the night. Although he's small in stature, Severino's delivery was pretty smooth. Here it is in frame-by-frame and GIF form:
As far as repertoire goes on Severino, here's what MLB.com's prospect evaluators Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo have to say on him:
Though he isn't especially big, Severino is strong, and he can run his fastball up to 98 mph. His heater usually sits at 94-95 mph and features some sink at the lower end of its velocity range. Both Severino's hard slider and his changeup have the potential to be solid or better offerings.
Ask Reading catcher Logan Moore about that slider and he would probably not say kind things, as he struck out against Severino leading off the third:
Here, Severino handles a comebacker. It was not a tough play, but it was an example of how Severino's pitching motion puts him in a good position to field, something Mike Mussina would smile about:
Severino was eventually tagged with the loss, though pitch count can partially be to blame for that. With the Yankees not wanting to push him in his final start of the season, he departed the game with two outs in the top of the fifth after 72 pitches. A rare walk had led off the inning, and though he got the next two outs, Thunder manager Tony Franklin gave him the hook. Reliever Phil Wetherell promptly gave up an RBI double to center that Mason Williams did not handle well, and the runner came around to score. Oh well. Severino's pitching line on the night was still splendid: 4 2/3 innings, five hits, one earned run, one walk, and four strikeouts. Watching him pitch live was awesome, and it only made be more excited about watching him climb the minor league ladder again in 2015.
Bird hit third in the Trenton lineup and this single was Bird's only hit of the night. Clearly, he did not like me as much as Tanya, who he hit three home runs for when she saw him play for Low-A Charleston last year. Tear.
Mason Williams
Mason continued his frustrating year with the aforementioned misplay in center and an 0-for-3 that included a strikeout. He did manage to work a walk though so there's that, I suppose.
An intriguing sixth round pick from the 2011 MLB Draft, injuries wrecked Cave's first two professional seasons, but he's bounced back nicely, first with a .282/.347/.401 triple slash in Charleston last year and now with a productive .294/.351/.414 split between Tampa and Trenton this year. One writer said that he reminded him of a younger Brett Gardner, and that's obviously not a bad guy to be compared to at all. However, this night was not a keeper--leading off, Cave went 0-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts.
Injuries curtailed a promising start to the 2013 season for the former Tulane grad in Trenton last year, and he hit so well in 2014 with the Thunder (.283/.398/.428 with a 135 wRC+) that the 25-year-old was promoted to Triple-A Scranton in mid-July. That month-long stint did not go well, as he managed just 11 hits and four walks in 85 plate appearances, so he returned to Trenton in mid-August. Perhaps he'll get another shot in the Electric City next year. As the cleanup hitter, Segedin went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. That double followed Bird's single and was Trenton's best chance at scoring on the night, but backup catcher Francisco Arcia flew out to end the inning.
I also took photos of outfielder/DH Ben Gamel, second baseman Dan Fiorito, and reliever Mark Montgomery. The hard-throwing strikeout artist is the most well-known of those three, and he did pitch well over the final two innings, striking out two while allowing just one hit to lower his Trenton ERA to 0.84. Demoted from Scranton to Trenton in June after posting an ugly 5.5 BB/9 and 1.315 WHIP in the International League though, he will need a strong 2014 to reclaim his previously high relief prospect status.
Boomer
There was also a kinda scary mascot named Boomer who was trolling around. He is apparently a "thunderbird." Okay then. Here he is tossing sparkles from the top of the ballpark onto innocent civilians. Run.
Derby
Of course, the Thunder's true mascot is Derby, the adorable batdog. Succeeding his dearly departed father Chase in this position, Derby retrieved the bat from several Trenton players in the first couple innings, and it was every bit as adorable as as you could imagine. Derby is the best, and there should really be more batdogs around baseball. His son Rookie will join him next year, and it will be delightful. Here's Derby in action, retrieving Greg Bird's bat:
Get a batdog, Yankees. You know you want to.
When Cave flew out to end the game, my evening with the Thunder was over. I would be happy to come back, and I'm sure I will next year. If Aaron Judge and his exciting Tampa teammates want to join, they are more than welcome. I highly recommend checking out the Thunder if you get a chance to do so next year. Derby and his friends will make sure you don't regret it.
Welcome to September baseball as the Yankees look to possibly make up a few games over the lowly Boston Red Sox. They're going to need a big series if they want to stay in the playoff race, but how many times have we said that only to be let down rather quickly?
Moving Tanaka to the 60 doesn't mean much, since he's been out since June; it's just a paper move to get someone else on the roster. Putting Slade on the 60 now means that his MLB service time has officially started. They have previously resisted doing this with Manny Banuelos and haven't done it with Jose Campos either. Why not just try to release him and re-sign him?
Bringing up Roe and Hill to join Josh Outman pretty much says that neither Jacob Lindgren or Tyler Webb will be in the majors this year. That's disappointing. I'm a little surprised Zoilo is getting the boot, but I can't say it's a mistake, though will Richardson be any better?
The Yankees' star rookie will resume throwing in hopes of returning to the team before the end of the regular season.
Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka has been cleared by a team doctor to begin a throwing program, according to ESPN New York's Andrew Marchand. The 25-year-old right-hander is expected to throw a bullpen session later this week, though the team did not disclose a specific day.
Tanaka played catch on Tuesday and did not have any issues, Yankees manager Joe Girardi told Marchand. That came four days after the team shut down its star rookie due to "general soreness," though Tanaka said at the time the move was precautionary.
Tanaka and the Yankees elected for a platelet-rich plasma injection over Tommy John surgery after the injury was diagnosed on July 9. Tanaka was expected to miss at least six weeks at the time he landed on the disabled list, but if he returns at any point this season, he will likely do so after already missing more than two months.
New York has remained in the postseason race despite losing Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova and David Phelps from the rotation for various stretches due to injury. Midseason acquisition Brandon McCarthy (2.80 ERA/139 ERA+) and 25-year-old rookie Shane Green (3.09 ERA/126 ERA+) have performed well in the absence of most of the Yankees' Opening Day rotation.
